Goodbye Blue Sky
by phoenixfire53
Summary: Sam Anders watches and remembers the events of the nuclear holocaust on Caprica.


**Author's Note:**Well, this is probably going to be the only piece of fanfiction that's actually complete for a while. Anyway… Lately I've been listening to Pink Floyd's Live in Berlin album, and Goodbye Blue Sky started playing at one point. As soon as Joni Mitchell started wailing, it made me think of B.S.G. Trust me, if you listen to the song before you read the fic, you can probably guess what first came to mind when I heard this. :\

**Title:**Goodbye Blue Sky

**Summary:**Anders sees and remembers the destruction of Caprica as the Cylons unleash their nuclear holocaust.

**Rating:**Since this is mostly description and yada-yada-yada, it's staying on a very simple G to PG rating.

**Disclaimer:**Sad to say, I don't own the song featured in the fic – Goodbye Blue Sky and the rights belong to Pink Floyd and Pink Floyd only. Sadder still, I don't own Sam Anders or any other idea of Battlestar Galactica. One can only dream.

**And after all that boring-as-hell drabble, I'll shut my mouth and let you guys get reading. Hope you enjoy it. :]**

_Sweat trickled down Anders's forehead and temples as he finished another round of pyramid drills. His legs were aching, and all visible skin was glistening with perspiration. He glanced over at his coach, who was standing to the side and loudly encouraging the team's weak-linkers to finish the drill off with a bang. The coach glanced back at Anders once every last person had cleared the pyramid court, and gave him a nod of satisfaction. Good job, Sam, his nod suggested. Anders returned the gesture - Just trying my hardest, coach._

_"All right guys! Take five while I get the game equipment ready!" the coach shouted curtly before jogging away to grab the equipment._

_The single-file line of pyramid players disbanded to grab a drink of water, use the bathroom, or check up on their kids and see how they were doing. All except for Anders - he wasn't thirsty; he'd used the head only ten minutes ago; and he didn't have a son or daughter to tend to. So, he walked over to the very edge of the training field, and stared out at the stretch of Caprican cities and natural landscapes. He smiled softly at the rigid line of mountains that seemed to break through the vast fields of grass, and the skyscrapers that clustered together to form Caprica City; it was somewhat plain, yes... But it was lovely to behold, too. It was Caprica's simplistic beauty that Anders liked best._

_Out of the corner of his eye, Anders noticed his teammate Miranda come up and stand beside him, her young son Thaddeus perched upon her hip. She hoisted the young boy up so he could see the view Anders was silently enjoying, then sighed softly. "Pretty, isn't it?" she said with a smile._

_"You gotta love Caprica. Don't know what I'd do if all this weren't here."_

_**Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky!**_

_Anders's attention was suddenly diverted away from the dreamlike view of the land by Thaddeus's awe-struck gasp. He looked at Miranda's son curiously, and noticed his innocent brown eyes grow wide at the sight of something that was clearly amazing him. He pointed a stubby, peach-colored index finger towards the horizon, and exclaimed, "Look, mommy! Look at the bright light!"_

_Turning his attention back on the landscape, Anders quickly saw a flash of blinding white light blooming in the distance. Then, he watched as the light faded away, and watched, to his horror, as an enormous column of fire and smoke rose high into Caprica's cloudless sea-blue sky._

_**Did did did did you see the frightened ones?**__**  
**__**Did did did did you hear the falling bombs?**_

_More flashes of light and fire and smoke followed, and soon almost a dozen fiery columns were uniformly lined up along the horizon like a single-file procession of orange and black flowers. Anders rubbed his eyes, too shocked to believe what he was seeing; what the hell was happening to Caprica?_

_He heard Miranda struggling to breathe; he ripped his gaze away from the fire and smoke to look at her, and saw her gasping and gulping in air. Her eyes were as wide as her son's, and she was trembling profusely. As a gesture of kindness, Anders gently took Thaddeus into his strong, well-built arms, and shielded him from the awful sight he was witnessing with his shoulder. He then quickly covered the boy's ears with the other hand that wasn't supporting him from the bottom, and asked Miranda, "What the frak is going on? What the hell IS that?"_

_She took a shaky breath. "I don't know," she replied in a fluttery voice. "They look like - like... nukes."_

_Anders was apalled at her statement. Nukes? ON CAPRICA? There was no way this was happening!_

_A strange look appeared on Miranda's face. "Do you think that maybe the Cylons are attacking us?"_

_"No! It can't be the Cylons -"_

_Anders was suddenly cut off by the sound of somebody screaming. "OH MY GODS! THEY'RE BOMBING CAPRICA CITY!"_

_Anders looked towards the sprawling capital just in time to see a large, oblong capsule hurtle through the air and down into the heart of the city. Seconds later, the capsule exploded, and the blast radiated outwards for miles as a giant mushroom cloud of fire and smoke rose up high into the sky. Amidst the roar of the aftermath, Anders heard people screaming and moaning, as well as the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire and the monotonous, low thump of an army marching. He realized, with dread and fear rolling and somersaulting in his stomach, that the Cylons were attacking Caprica, and even worse - they were attacking humanity._

_**Did did did did you ever wonder**__**  
**__**Why we had to run for shelter**__**  
**__**When the promise of a brave new world**__**  
**__**Unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?**_

_Recognizing the desperate need to get out of plain sight and into hiding, Anders began to direct his teammates off the pyramid court, and towards the safety of the mountains. When everybody else had frantically cleared the court, Anders tightened his grip on his Thaddeus, took Miranda's hand, and ran off the training field as fast as they could._

_"Run!" Anders shouted hoarsely. "Run, and don't look back!"_

_And the people did just that; they ran for the mountains like the Cylon army was coming for them. In truth, the Cylon army was coming for them - the C. Bucks just didn't know it yet. They'd only realize this in the near future._

_By the time they'd reached the safety of the mountains and its high altitude, everyone - including Anders - was tired, out-of-breath, and undeniably terrified of their current situation. Anders had always believed that Caprica and its inhabitants were strong, invincible - that nothing could destroy or scar such a promising and powerful place. Now, here he was, watching as his home planet and the millions of people living here were almost completely decimated by an army's nuclear holocaust. An army of cold, lifeless, heartless, frakking MACHINES._

_Anders looked around him; everywhere he looked, he saw his teammates moaning, crying, shaking. Everywhere he looked, he saw the hopelessness and despair written across their faces, and he heard their sad predictions of soon-to-come death. It set Anders off almost immediately - he would be damned to Hades before his teammates gave up on themselves and their future._

_He passed Thaddeus back to Miranda, straightened up, and gave the rest of his teammates a hard look. "We are NOT going to die. We aren't going to die from radiation, and we aren't going to die at the hands of the Cylons. WE AREN'T GOING TO GIVE UP OUR LIVES AND OUR FUTURES! We're going to survive, and we're gonna kick those toasters in their tin-can asses!" He pointed a calloused finger at the still-burning Caprica City. "I don't give a flying FRAK what this or the rest of the planet looks like. It's still ours, and those machines aren't going to take it from us! We're gonna fight back, and show them Caprica is OURS!"_

Several months later, Anders realized that he had been wrong – so wrong. He should have known that he and his teammates were all dead from the start, and that there was no fighting against the Cylons and taking Caprica back. Now, as he guarded the outer perimeter of the resistance base with nothing but an old rifle, a pistol, and a few ammo cartridges, Anders realized that they were doomed when they saw Caprica City rise into the cloudless blue in a pillar of blazing fire and pitch-black smoke.

Knowing that the area he was guarding was least likely to be the target of a Cylon attack, Anders laid his gun on the ground, sat down, and stared up at the radiation-poisoned yellow sky. He noticed that there was a break in the yellow color, and was astonished to see a faint inkling of clear, cloudless blue. Anders hadn't seen such a lovely light color in months.

Nor had he wanted to.

_**Did did did did you see the frightened ones?**__**  
**__**Did did did did you hear the falling bombs?**_

That tinted blue and the memory of the nuclear holocaust had haunted Anders's thoughts for many weeks and months. Even today, Anders could still hear the sobs and horrified screams of the Caprican people as their hometown, their lives, and they themselves were destroyed in the atomic blasts. Even today, he still saw the flaming columns and helplessly relived the moment where he saw the bomb dropped into the core of Caprica City. He'd lived with those memories for days on end, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake them AT ALL.

_**The flames are all long gone**__**  
**__**But the pain lingers on...**_

The sight of the blue became too painful for Anders to continue looking at. He tore his gaze away from the sky, and held his head in his hands. The memories and random reminders did things to him - for one, seeing such perfection amidst imperfection gave him a bad headache, while even a little hint at the Cylon nukes gave him an rather painful case of heartache. Any reminder of that day was like the worst kind of torture for Anders.

_**Goodbye blue sky**__**  
**__**Goodbye blue sky**__**  
**__**Goodbye...**__**  
**__**Goodbye...**_

Anders's headache lasted only for a few seconds. When it completely vanished, Anders worked up the courage to see if the small piece of blue sky was still there. To his surprise, it was still there... but only for a few seconds.

Then, there was a blinding light that completely overwhelmed the blue, and when the light disappeared, the sky was a flat, pale yellow, consumed once again by radiation.

For some unknown reason, Anders felt angry and devastated at the blue's disappearance. He hadn't had enough time to really enjoy its simple beauty… Just like he hadn't had enough time to enjoy the wonderful simplicity of Caprica before it was destroyed by the Cylons. It was all but a ghostly memory now, nothing but an ugly reminder of a short-lived subtleness.

It was too much for Anders. The distress of his memories and the feeling that he'd been robbed of something wonderful washed over him like a tidal wave, and soon, tears of grief and frustration pooled in his eyes. His Adam's apple bobbed and ducked as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and his entire body felt numb. He looked at the sky helplessly, and in a broken voice whispered, "Why? Why'd you disappear?"

And, for the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Sam Anders cried for the loss of Caprica.

**SCORE! FINISHED! :D This is my first complete fanfic, so I hope y'all enjoy it! :D :D**


End file.
